MamaGrizzly

I think we are the only family in the entire world that went to see WALL-E and left 25 minutes into it. We decided to go to our very first FAMILY movie outing a few weeks ago. We picked WALL-E because we have a 2 year old and a 4 year old and needed a movie that was rated G - WALL-E fit that. Fortunately, we went to our local theatre which is cheap - $2.75 for a matinee! It’s not stadium seating but I’m not paying $6.00 per person just for stadium seating - it’s not THAT much better.

But, going to the movies with 2 small children can be difficult the way the theatre’s are set up. We got our tickets and our popcorn and headed for our seats 5 minutes before the movie was scheduled to start. The BIGGEST problem is that we had to sit there and watch 30 minutes of commercials before WALL-E even started. My children aren’t used to commercials since we don’t have cable-tv and so they were frustrated with the commercials. But, FINALLY after 30 minutes of being bombarded with things we don’t want or need, WALL-E started. Now, by this time, the children were still eating their popcorn. But after 15 minutes, my 2 year old was up and ready to go for a walk. Five minutes after that, my 4 year old waas ready to go - and then 5 minutes later, my husband and I looked at each other because we too were bored with the movie. So, the 4 of us left and went window shopping.

Now, WALL-E might be a great movie - but when I see a movie rated “G”, I assume that it will be entertaining for any age. And, I guess I really expected a “grab-ya in the beginning” type movie since WALL-E is a Pixar movie.

But, we learned our lesson. I’m not sure when we’ll attempt our next big family movie - it will definitely be a long time from now. In the meantime, we’re enjoying our new “movie box” which I’ll tell you about in a future post!

A big thanks to Grant at “A Singer, A Song” for pointing out the following interesting video of Caminito Del Rey in Spain.  The person that shot this video is OBVIOUSLY not afraid of heights!!

 My children have never been to a McDonald’s - that’s a conscientious decision my husband and I have made.  There are a lot of reasons for that decision and it’s not really anything in particular again McDonald’s.  We really just want to teach our children about eating healthy and eating at home.   And since my children aren’t bombarded with commercial television, it’s much easier to prevent them from “learning” about McD’s.

But, not taking my children to McDonald’s isn’t what makes me a bad Mom.  You see, the other day, we were driving by a McDonald’s with a giant slide like the one you see in the picture.  Well, what 2 or 4 year old child doesn’t LOVE a giant slide?  My 2 year old daughter noticed this particular slide and went crazy.  “MOMMY!  MOMMY!”  she exclaimed with joy and glee in her voice “BIG SLIDE”. 

Well, she had me trapped.  My son looked over and noticed it for the first time too (we’ve driven by it hundreds of times).  Uh-oh - what was I going to say now?  And then, the words I had been fearing came.  My 4 year old son said, “Mommy!  Can we go to THAT park?” 

Quick - think - what could I say.  I paused and calmly said, “Honey - we don’t want to go to that slide.  Everyone calls that the bug slide because it has bugs in it and they can’t get them out.”  There I had done it.  I lied to both of my children - the EXACT thing I’m trying to teach them NOT to do - and I’m doing it.  Yup - I’m a BAD BAD Mom.  

OH - and as for what the “M” on the McDonald’s sign stands for?  Well, my son asked me that about a year ago and, um, I told him that stood  for “Mommy’s”.   I’m in BIG BIG trouble soon because he’s learning to read.  if anyone has any suggestions of what I can tell him when he learns to read, I’m all ears. 

OK - I’m going to be a little bit cynical in this post.  But, I just had to laugh.  A very young soon to be new Mom friend of mine asked me a few weeks ago about a regular “date night” and what my husband and I do for a date night now that we have children.  I asked her what she meant and she said that some friends of hers from her church have been telling her that she and her husband really need to have once a week date nights after they have the baby.  I was sipping on a glass of tea at the moment and almost spit out my drink in laughter.  She asked me why I was laughing?

Well, I was laughing for a lot of reasons.  First of all, I don’t think people that make these kinds of statements live in the same world that I do.  First off - it’s EXPENSIVE to find a babysitter - especially when your children are younger.  And as for a newborn?  Well, there just aren’t that many people qualified to take care of a newborn.  And let’s not even discuss what a breastfeeding Mom is supposed to do.

Secondly, let’s suppose that I COULD afford the babysitter.  Now I have to find someone that I trust - and when you don’t have any family in town, that gets even more difficult.

Third, OK - let’s suppose that I DID have someone I could trust and afford - NOW I have to be able to afford going OUT!  UGH!  Do you see where I’m going with this?

Fourth - you know, children get up EARLY at our house.  So, now that I’ve got someone I can trust and afford taking care of my child AND I can afford to go somewhere, I better not stay out LATE because those children are going to wake up BRIGHT EYED and BUSHY TAILED (as my Dad used to say) and RARING to go.  Now, my children are awesome sleepers and they’ve been known to sleep in until 7:30 sometimes - but, I still better not stay out very late.   I really like my sleep!    :wink:

So, I asked my friend why the emphasis on actually going OUT and she said that it was important that they focus on their marriage as a couple even when the children arrive.   OK - Well, this I can agree on.  But, my question back to her was, “Why do you have to go OUT on a date every week?”    I guess my point back to her was that through the ages, families haven’t been able to “afford” this type of a luxury and they were able to stay married for a lifetime.   I know for a fact that my Grandparents didn’t go out on a “date night” - heck, they lived on a farm and had 4 boys and many sharecroppers.  They didn’t even have a car to drive until the youngest child was 13 years old.  But, somehow, my grandparents stayed married their entire lives without going every week.

I’m not trying to trivialize the time spent with your spouse - it’s important.  But you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have quality time with your spouse.  My husband and I spend time together talking every night when the children are in bed - we don’t have to spend a lot of money to have that quality time together.  I think the “once a week date night” was actually invented by the restaurant industry just like I think the greeting card company’s keep inventing new “holidays” so that they can sell more greeting cards.  Spend quality time together with your spouse - but just know that you don’t have to leave home and spend a lot of money to do that!

My husband went to a local credit union the other day to close out his account.  He was tired of the poor service he felt he was receiving and tired of paying to bank with them.  He had a savings account that had $30 in it.  When he explained to the teller what he wanted to do, she said he couldn’t close the account because he owed $157 on the credit card that he had with them.  (What were they going to do?  Hold the $30 hostage?)  He said, “Fine.  I’ll write you a check now and pay off the credit card”.  They said, “Sorry!  We don’t process credit card payments - you’ll have to call this number.” 

VERY annoyed, my darling husband left.  He paid off the credit card and went back the next day or a few days later.  The same teller was there and she remembered my husband.  Then he told the teller he was ready to close out his account.  She said, “Can I ask why you want to close the account sir?”  

This is hilarious!!!

This guy is too hilarious! Thought I’d share another video of his. Enjoy!

OK - this is HYSTERICAL!!!!   I’ve never heard words before sung to Cannon in D (and I LOVE to play that song on the piano).  But, this was toooo hilarious not to share!

My darling little soon to be 4 year old son decided today that picking a very small red berry and sticking it UP his nose would be a LOT of fun!  Only to find out that gravity doesn’t work QUITE as well in a nostril as it does on the playground.  So, we tried tweezers and a flashlight and started getting frustrated.  Then one of the ladies at the church said, “I think if you blow in their mouth as if you were going to do mouth to mouth resuscitation that it will come out.”  You know what?  It worked!!!!  Moms - tuck this in your brains - you too may need to know this very critical skill one day!

I’m 40.  There.  I said it.  Funny - I don’t “feel 40″ but everywhere I look I am reminded that I AM getting older!  I take really good care of myself, I try to exercise when I can, eat right, all those good things.  But, I’m still aging.  ugh!  And EVERYONE has to remind me of that simple fact.

I had both children after I turned 35.  They make you feel ancient because they place you in the “ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE” category!!!  

I also realized sometime before I turned 40 that I was having to hold things farther away to read them than normal.  I can’t read small print as well as I used to.  Then I found out that once you turn 40, you’re supposed to have a mammogram EVERY year.   

But, today was the REAL kicker.  I’ve been having problems with my eyes being very dry - it’s been going on all summer.  So, I googled it on the Internet to see what some of the “causes” might be.  There are a number of things that can cause dry eyes.   But you know what was listed among them?   AGING.   

You just have to place this under the category of comical.

My darling husband had to have a set of fingerprints made and the agency requesting the fingerprints suggested that he go to the local police department. What a great idea! So, he did.

When he arrived there, he was told that it would be $20 to be fingerprinted. What?

The irony of the situation? If he had robbed a gas station, he could have gotten a FREE set of fingerprints AND a PASSPORT QUALITY photograph! 

Time Magazine just did a piece on the Five Websites to Avoid.  So, I’ll sum up the websites and their reasonings:

1.  eHarmony.com - Since I’m happily married, you can imagine that this is not a site I have ever visited.  But, what I’ve heard about the site is that they have a scientific way of matching up couples.  Interesting…. Here’s what Time Magazine says:

Our main beef with this online dating site is its power to cause utter despair. eHarmony claims its more “scientific” approach to matchmaking differentiates it from competitors — its users complete extensive personality questionnaires, in order to connect them to others based on compatibility.

Can you imagine if you filled out the survey and it matched you up with NO ONE?? 

2. Evite.com - I can relate to this because I have received many invitations from evite - I’m not a fan - maybe because I’m just a little old fashioned?  I still like to receive an invitation via snail mail.  Time Magazine actually likes evite.com saying:

We’re only mad at Evite because we need it so much, and we know it could be so much better. The site, in short, is crying out for an overhaul. With more and more sites emphasizing flexibility and user control over content, Evite’s fill-in-the-blanks approach feels clumsy and dated.

3.  Meez.com - OK - I’ve never heard of this site so I quickly visited the website and it had 3 steps:  1.  Create a digital persona, 2.  Animate with one click and 3.  Export to web profiles, blogs and more.  Interesting!  I’ve participated in something like this but it created a very small graphic of “me” that I could then use on a bulletin board I participate in.  I have a feeling Meez.com is more for kids?   Here is what Time Magazine had to say about Meez.com:

We understand that digital signatures have a practical use, particularly when they provide the kind of info you’d see on a business card. And we don’t doubt that, for some people, a U2 lyric can express how they feel better than they could. But the 3-D animations and other digital doodads created with the help of Meez and other sites of its ilk — Blingee, Iconator — are just plain annoying. They also clog the recipient’s inbox with unnecessary bits.

4.  Myspace.com - If you haven’t heard of myspace.com, then you MUST live under a rock!  It’s a popular place and has been for awhile - especially for kids.  But the joke I’ve heard about myspace lately with kids is that they left myspace for another site (not sure where?) because there were too many adults hanging out at myspace!!!  Here is what Time Magazine had to say about Myspace:

It seems the community has become infested with marketers and other opportunists who create false profiles and essentially spam other users, all under the guise of “making friends.” Of course, there have always been loads of MySpace profiles of fictional characters, created to help market a movie or promote some other brand. But it’s the bait-and-switch tactics from these leeches (Want to be my friend? Buy a ring tone! Fill out this survey!) that have taken things to a whole new—and sad—level.

5.  Secondlife.com - Alright - I haven’t heard of this and when I asked my geeky co-workers, they said I must live under a rock!  It looks like an online reality virtual game.  Looks like fun - but I really don’t have time to play games these days.  Here is what Time Magazine had to say about Secondlife.com:

We’re sure that somebody out there is enjoying Second Life, but why? Visually, this vast virtual world can be quite impressive, but it’s notoriously slow to load (it runs on free software you have to download) and difficult to navigate, even with a broadband connection. You interact in the space through an avatar, but creating and personalizing this animated representation of yourself is tedious. Movements feel clunky and there can be a terrible lag.

Six men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of “pretend” bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor’s appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care (weekend, evening, on a holiday or right when they’re about to leave for vacation).

He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

There is only one TV between them, and a remote with dead batteries.

Each father will be required to know all of the words to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of each and every character on cartoons.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, which they will apply to themselves either while driving or making three lunches.

Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker; and get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.

Each man must adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep their nails polished and eyebrows groomed.

The men must try to get through each day without snot, spit-up or barf on their clothing.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must try to explain what a tampon is for when the 6-yr old boy finds it in the purse.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

He will need to read a book and then pray with the children each night without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 7:00.

They must leave the home with no food on their face or clothes.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information:

each child’s birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor’s name.

Also the child’s weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child’s favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

They must clean up after their sick children at 2:00 a.m. and then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better.

They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to, “You’re not the boss of me”.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.

The last man wins only if he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment’s notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years…eventually earning the right to be called Mother!

Our problem is so serious that it seems to be the talk of both of our families - and our neighbors.  My Father called me twice yesterday to talk about the problem.  He’s left 2 voice mail messages this morning.  My husband’s Mother describes our behaviour as “strange”.  My husbands brother and sister cornered him yesterday and gave him a lot of grief on the subject.  They thought our “problem” was strictly related to having small children.  My husband politely told them that he has suffered with this problem for over 15 years - we’ve only had children in our lives for 3.5 years.  I’ve had this “problem” for 5.  It is DEFINITELY not a result of having children.  Our neighbor piped in that he doesn’t know of anyone else that suffers from our problem.  We’re starting to feel all alone.  And, we don’t criticize others for the decisions they have made.  It’s just our own personal “problem” - uh, I mean decision. 

And, we thought we were all alone, until I talked to the neighbor across the street.  She and her husband have the same “problem” that we do - and they feel EXACTLY the same way we do.  And their families have ALSO given them much grief.

So what is our “problem”?  We don’t have cable tv.  It’s not because we can’t afford it, it’s because we don’t WANT it.  We don’t have TIME to watch tv with 2 small children in the home.  My husband said it’s like paying for a golf course membership and golfing twice a year.  Why pay for something you don’t use?  And, with 2 children in the house, I do NOT want them channel surfing through all of the garbage that is on tv today.  But, apparently, it bothers an awful lot of people in our families. 

We actually offended my husbands sister because she wanted us to come over for Mother’s Day and “hang out”.  We know what “hang out” at her house means.  It means that the kids all go in their own bedrooms (4 children in 3 separate bedrooms) and watch their own private tv’s with cable tv piped right into their bedrooms.  The young ones (6 and 7)  can pretty much watch whatever they want - including Nickelodeon which is NOT for children.  We declined the nice “offer” because we said we wanted to spend time TOGETHER as a family - playing ball, taking a walk, going to the pool.  We asked if they would like to join us at the park - we would love for them to join us and we would provide the food.  There was silence on the other end of the line.  Call me whatever you want - I did not want to have children in their bedrooms watching tv while adults ALSO sit around in front of a different tv and “visit”. It just doesn’t sound appealing to me.  Am I that strange?  Our polite declination of the offer really offended his sister.  And, she didn’t accept our offer.  *sigh*

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not by any stretch of the imagination a “prude”.  We DO watch tv with the children.  But, we monitor what they watch.  And it’s not a “babysitter”.  I have lots of different videos for the children - ones that we approve of - and they can pick from them on Saturday mornings.  And I cuddle up with my son on the couch and watch the movie that “he picked”.  One day, when my daughter is old enough, I’m sure that she will join us in the movie selection and watching.  Sometimes I think just that the tv or “boob tube” has taken away so much from the family. 

Oh well.  I’ll be telling my father a little white lie - I’ll tell him today that we got cable.  It will make him ”feel” better.  He thinks we’re missing out on things.  The rest of the family can just deal with it.  I don’t “get” why it bothers all of them.  Are we the ONLY ones out there that choose not to center our family life around the television.   

Thanks to Jennifer at The Lactivist, I found this great video on the flu vaccine.  It’s a great parody on vaccines.  And let me just first say that we DO vaccinate in our household but we selectively vax, we delay some, and we do NOT do the flu shot.

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, “I’m tired, and it’s getting late. I think I’ll go to bed”
 
She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day’s lunches. She rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning. She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and h un g up a towel to dry. She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroo m. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.
 
She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.
 
Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her Night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.

Dad called out, “I thought you were going to bed.”

“I’m on my way,” she said.

She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on.

She looked in on each of the kids! and turned out their bedside lamps and TV’s, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.
 
In her own room, she set the alarm; laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.
 
About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. “I’m going to bed.”

And he did…without another thought.

Anything extraordinary here? Wonder why women live longer…?

CAUSE WE ARE MADE FOR THE LONG HAUL….. (and we can’t die sooner, we still have things to do!!!!)
 

This is absolutely brilliant and SWEET video! My dear husband has a lot to look forward to with our daughter!

This is the funniest thing EVER!

Jennifer over at The Lactivist found some software made by Babble Soft called BabyManager. This software gives parents the ability to track the exact date and time for everything about their baby - when they eat, sleep, poop, take medicine. It charts everything out for you - I think it’s over the top!

Here’s a quote off of their site:

“Babble Soft is a sight for sore eyes for parents adjusting to the numerous, often tumultuous changes a new bundle of joy brings to their lives. We create and provide software solutions that help families connect and help parents ensure that their baby is getting what he or she needs.”

You know, I have to say that I think we make having children sound like the hardest thing in the world. And we paint this horrible pictures to new parents about what it’s like to have children. The other day I witnessed a parent of 2 teens telling a newly pregnant (and very nervous) Mom, “Get your sleep now! You’ll never sleep again.” Why do people feel that they have to tell people their life is going to change drastically when they have a child. They KNOW that. The Mom ALREADY knows that because her life has already changed drastically because of the pregnancy.

And I have to say, there are just too many parenting books out there trying to dictate to parents “how” they should manage their children from birth all the way through their teens. As a civilization, we have been raising babies for thousands of years without books, clocks, watches, pens, PDA’s, and computers. How did they raise them? QUITE simple! They learned to communicate with the baby and when the baby was hungry, they fed them, and when tired, they put them to bed. And you know what? It WORKED! It’s REALLY that simple. Since the birth of both of my children, that has been the philosophy in our house. And we’ve also adopted the “whatever works” philosophy or our pediatrician! I remember being a nervous Mom of a 6 week old and talking to my pediatrician about whether or not we should swaddle, or use pacifiers. Our pediatrician was awesome - he’s older and wiser and has 4 grown children of his own. He said, “Your job as a parent is to love your child and take care of them. Make sure they are warm, fed, and safe. Crying is the only they can communicate that sommething is wrong. Sometimes they are wet,hungry, hot, or cold, and sometimes they just need to be held. Enjoy those times because the day will come soon when they won’t want you to hold them.” You know, Dr. Lee is a wise man and is so right! We can definitely tell how much our 3 yar old son is changing and we knwo that in probably a year, he’s not going to let us hold him as much as we even do now.

So, my advice to new parents? Throw all those books away! When your baby is hungry, feed him! When it’s tired, rock him to sleep! Enjoy every last minute of it because before you can blink, these days will be over and you’ll wish you could sit down and rock them again!!